Written Answers Tuesday 1 March 2005

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the physical health effects of organophosphate sheep dip in farm workers’ families.

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has undertaken into the environmental effects of organophosphate sheep dip.

Lewis Macdonald: I refer the member to the answer to question S2W-14133, answered on 28 February 2005. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament/webapp/wa.search .

Agriculture

Mr David Davidson (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many organic farms and small holdings are registered, broken down by local authority area.

Ross Finnie: The data required are given in the table:

  

Unitary Authority
Organic Farms


Aberdeen City
5


Aberdeenshire
58


Angus
23


Argyll and Bute
34


Clackmannanshire
*


Dumfries and Galloway
107


East Ayrshire
9


East Dunbartonshire
*


East Lothian
12


East Renfrewshire
*


Edinburgh, City of
*


Falkirk
*


Fife
6


Highland
66


Inverclyde
*


Midlothian
6


Moray
23


North Ayrshire
8


North Lanarkshire
*


Orkney Islands
12


Perth and Kinross
79


Renfrewshire
*


Scottish Borders, The
70


Shetland Islands
18


South Ayrshire
6


South Lanarkshire
41


Stirling
20


West Dunbartonshire
*


West Lothian
5


Eileanan an Iar
*


Scotland Total
626



  Information on the size distribution of agricultural holdings is available in various annual publications available at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/about/ERAD/ESI/00015631/page407506847.aspx.

Arts

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its strategy is to promote the work of Scottish painters internationally.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Executive aims to ensure that Scottish artistic talent receives both national and international recognition. Our policy in this area is delivered principally by the Scottish Arts Council (SAC).

  The SAC’s Visual Arts Department has supported a number of projects which involve international working, funding artists to work and exhibit abroad. The table details the level of SAC activity in this area in recent years:

  Visual Arts International Activity

  

 
2002
2003
2004


Total Number of Projects
38
48
89


Total Investment
£70,533
£126,842
£106,059



  A high profile initiative in this period was the presentation of the first independent Scottish showcase at the 2003 Venice Biennale, one of the most significant events in the international calendar for cutting-edge contemporary art. There will also be a Scottish showcase at the 2005 Venice Biennale, presented by the SAC, the British Council Scotland and the National Galleries of Scotland.

  In addition, the SAC is working in partnership with the British Council Scotland on some international initiatives and has created a shared post of head of international arts. Through this post the two organisations are developing an International Arts Strategy which it is hoped will be launched in the next few months.

Community Planning

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory provisions have been made to enable MSPs, councillors and community councillors to participate in community planning.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 provides the statutory basis for community planning. It does not specifically mention MSPs or community councillors.

  Section 15(1) places a duty on local authorities to initiate, facilitate and maintain a community planning process to plan and provide public services provided in their area. It specifies that there should be consultation among:

  
"all the public bodies (including the local authority)" responsible for providing services, and with
"such community bodies and other bodies or persons as is appropriate".


  The Community Planning Statutory Guidance (paragraph 2) explains that: "this duty has been placed on local authorities because they are unique as democratically accountable bodies with a broad range of responsibilities which impact significantly, and directly, on communities." Community Planning Advice Note 7, on the Role of Elected and Board Members, describes the different levels of engagement of elected members in the community planning process.

  Paragraph 5.1 of the Statutory Guidance states that the definition of "community body" in Section 15(4) of the act is "deliberately broad in order to avoid excluding any particular communities". It also emphasises that local authorities should consult and co-operate with a wide range of interests including "Community Councils fulfilling their role as representatives of their local area". Further details are given in Community Planning Advice Note 5 on Effective Community Engagement.

  Community Planning Statutory Guidance is available online at: www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/cpsg-00.asp.

  Community Planning Advice Notes are available online at: www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/localgov/cpan-00.asp.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-10902 by Lewis Macdonald on 8 October 2004, which crofting community buy-out proposals have been taken forward since the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 came into force and how many such proposals are now time-limited due to successful ballots being held in the affected areas.

Lewis MacDonald: We have yet to receive an application for a crofting community right to buy under part 3 of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. However, two bodies have now provided ballot results in accordance with the provisions of section 75(4) of the act. Both these bodies can now make an application for a right to buy in accordance with the provisions of section 73 of the act within a period of six months starting from, and including, the date of their ballot without a need to conduct a further ballot.

Crofting

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it now intends to introduce the proposed Crofting Reform Bill.

Lewis Macdonald: The date for introduction of the Crofting Reform Bill has not yet been set. It is intended that a draft Bill will be published for consultation soon.

Economy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7590 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 May 2004, how much GDP per person in employment in Scotland will have to grow to achieve the same level as the UK average in 2004-05.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest Gross Value Added figures (GVA or GDP at basic prices), available for Scotland are presented in the Office for National Statistics Regional Accounts. These show that in 2003, the latest year available, Scottish GVA was estimated to be £78 billion at current basic prices, resulting in an average GVA per economically active person (2003 June-Aug Labour Force Survey) of £30,536. The UK equivalent (excluding extra-regio activity) was £32,083.

  This implies that, for the same population and workforce in Scotland in 2003, the average GVA per economically active person would need to have been £1,547 higher in order to reach the same level as the UK average. GDP would therefore have had to have been £3.9 billion or 5.1% higher. (Note that this would, in turn, result in an increase in the actual average UK GVA/economically active person).

Economy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7589 by Mr Jim Wallace on 27 May 2004, what Scottish GDP would currently be had it increased at the same rate as the UK average since 1997, using the revised version of GDP.

Mr Jim Wallace: Based on the latest data available from the Office for National Statistics for the value of Scottish Gross Value Added (GVA or GDP at basic prices), if Scottish growth had matched the UK average (excluding extra-regio) between 1997 and 2003, the estimated level of Scottish GVA in 2003 would have been £82.2 billion.

  The revised GVA methodology does not apply to these estimates. Chainlinking methodology is used to produce the volume index in the Scottish Executive’s quarterly GVA series but is not applicable to the ONS cash value estimates which are in current prices.

Economy

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7591 by Mr Jim Wallace on 18 May 2004, by how much GDP will have to grow in Scotland to achieve the same level as the UK average per head in 2004-05.

Mr Jim Wallace: The latest Gross Value Added figures (GVA or GDP at market prices), figures available for Scotland are presented in the Office for National Statistics Regional Accounts. These show that in 2003, the latest year available, Scottish GVA was estimated to be £78 billion at current basic prices, resulting in an average GVA per head of £15,409. The UK equivalent (excluding extra-regio activity) was £15,980.

  This implies that, for the same population in Scotland in 2003, the average GVA per head would need to have been £571 higher in order to reach the same level as the UK average. This means that total GVA would have had to increase by £2.9 billion or 3.7%. (Note that this would, in turn, result in an increase in the actual average UK GVA/head).

Film Industry

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the benefits of having regional film offices are for attracting film and television makers to rural areas.

Patricia Ferguson: The local film offices are partners in the Scottish Locations Network, which is co-ordinated by Scottish Screen. The existence of this effective network of regional film offices, which covers the whole of Scotland, is an important factor in helping to attract mobile film and television production to all areas of Scotland.

Fisheries

Mike Pringle (Edinburgh South) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it is encouraging the use of fishing boats to carry out sea and seabed surveys.

Lewis Macdonald: Fishing boats make a valuable contribution to fisheries surveys and the Scottish Executive encourages this through stakeholder groups and through collaboration with Fisheries Research Services.

Fly-Tipping

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been brought before the courts as a result of the "Dumb Dumpers" hotline.

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many prosecutions have been brought before the courts for fly-tipping not as a result of information from the "Dumb Dumpers" hotline since the hotline was established.

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions have been made as a result of information from the "Dumb Dumpers" hotline.

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many successful prosecutions have been made for fly-tipping not as a result of information from the "Dumb Dumpers" hotline since the hotline was established.

Elish Angiolini, QC: Reports to the Procurator Fiscal will not necessarily record in every case whether the hotline was the origin of the investigation. Further, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal database will not record whether a case is as a result of a call to the Dumb Dumpers hotline or not. While it would be possible to examine all cases to see if the report contained any information in relation to the Dumb Dumpers hotline, this would involve disproportionate cost and would not necessarily identify every hotline case in any event.

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many requests for information it has received following the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 coming into force.

Ms Margaret Curran: Every request for information which the Scottish Executive receives is handled in line with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Requests for information which is not held or which is routinely handled as part of daily business are not recorded or counted centrally. In line with guidance (which is available via the Recently Released Information section of the Scottish Executive’s website at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/FOI/19260/20126 ) Executive staff notify the Freedom of Information Unit of some requests for information. Up to Friday 18 February, a total of 406 Freedom of Information notifications have been recorded.

G8 Summit

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-11118 by Mr Tom McCabe on 1 November 2004, whether, after jointly exploring issues related to compensation and insurance with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the position of those who suffer loss and damage as a result of the hosting of the G8 summit can now be clarified.

Tom McCabe: A Question and Answer brief on this subject has been available on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office G8 website, www.g8.gov.uk since 26 January 2005.

Game (Scotland) Act 1832

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12957 by Tavish Scott on 20 January 2005, how long it expects its consideration of whether to conduct a review of the Game (Scotland) Acts to last and when it will announce its conclusion.

Tavish Scott: No timescales have been set for this activity. This issue is still under on-going discussion with the UK Government, and at the conclusion of these discussions a decision on any review applying to Game Acts on Scotland will be made.

Game (Scotland) Act 1832

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-12959 by Tavish Scott on 28 January 2005, what levels of fine may be levied for breaches of the Game (Scotland) Act 1832; what punishments are available for any non-payment of such fines; whether these punishments have been amended since 1832, and whether they are consistent with its criminal justice policies.

Tavish Scott: The levels of fine which may be levied for breaches of the Game (Scotland) Act 1832, and the punishments which are available for non-payment of fines are set out in the table below.

  

Breach of Game (Scotland) Act 1832
Level of Fine
Maximum Amount of Fine
Maximum Penalty for Non-Payment of Fine


Trespass in pursuit of game etc (section 1 of 1832 Act)
Level 3
£1,000
28 days imprisonment


Trespass in pursuit of game etc when in disguise or in a group of 5 or more (section 1 of 1832 Act).
Level 4
£2,500
45 days imprisonment


Assault or obstruction by a person trespassing of any person exercising his or her rights under the 1832 Act (section 6 of the 1832 Act).
Level 3
£1,000
28 days imprisonment


Failure by person trespassing to provide his or her name and address (section 2 of the 1832 Act).
Level 1
£200
7 days imprisonment



  The levels of fines and punishments for non-payment have been amended several times since 1832. The maximum amount of fine corresponding to each level is set out in what is known as the "standard scale" which in turn is contained in the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. The 1995 act also sets out the maximum number of days imprisonment that can be imposed for default in payment of any level of fine.

Health

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it recognises the condition of lymphoedema.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what services are provided by NHS boards for sufferers of lymphoedema.

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied that current services for sufferers of lymphoedema are adequately resourced to meet their needs.

Mr Andy Kerr: Lymphoedema is recognised by the Scottish Executive as a condition. Treatment for lymphoedema may vary in individual cases. Lymphoedema services are mainly based in hospices although they may also be available in some cancer centres, physiotherapy clinics and other hospital settings.

  In January this year, £6 billion was allocated to NHS boards for 2005-06. It is a matter for NHS boards to decide where this money is directed to meet the healthcare needs of their local populations. Each NHS board publishes a local health plan annually that sets out the broad strategic direction for public health and healthcare services in their area.

  Further information may be obtained directly from NHS board chief executives, whose contact details can be accessed on the SHOW website at http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

Higher Education

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-13677 by Mr Jim Wallace on 1 February 2005, whether it has concerns about the reduction in numbers of Scottish school leavers entering higher education.

Mr Jim Wallace: Around 50% of young people will participate in higher education by the time they are 21. The Executive is committed to ensuring that all young people have the opportunity to access the best option for them, whether this is in higher education, further education, training or employment. Some fluctuation between these options will occur from time to time, this is to be expected.

Holidays

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated costs are of granting an additional day’s holiday per year to (a) its, (b) NHS and (c) local authority employees.

Tavish Scott: We estimate that the cost of an additional day’s holiday for Scottish Executive staff would be about £0.64 million, about £16.5 million for NHS staff and about £24.5 million for local authority staff.

Holidays

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated increase is in leisure spend by members of the public on a public holiday compared with a working day.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive does not have any data relating to the level of leisure spend by members of the public on a public holiday compared with a working day and is therefore unable to make an estimate.

Holidays

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis has been made of the benefits to the Scottish economy arising from public holidays and events associated with public holidays.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has not undertaken any specific analysis of the benefits to the Scottish economy arising from public holidays and events associated with public holidays.

Justice

Jeremy Purvis (Tweeddale, Ettrick and Lauderdale) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is considering legislative steps to improve contact arrangements for children and their parents in Scotland.

Cathy Jamieson: The Family Law (Scotland) Bill, introduced on 7 February, includes provisions aimed at giving greater support to children and families. However, legislation will not provide the solution to every problem. This is why, at the same time as we progress our bill, the Executive will be working with key stakeholders on the production of Parenting Agreements to help separating or divorcing couples make sensible and durable arrangements for their children, including contact. Our aim is to help separating couples come to voluntary, amicable agreements about the future care and support of their children without having to resort to the courts, unless this is absolutely necessary.

Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who has responsibility for investigating and prosecuting any acts in Dungavel House immigration removal centre which may constitute a breach of Scots criminal law.

Elish Angiolini QC: The Lord Advocate and procurators fiscal on his behalf have responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of crime in Scotland, wherever it occurs. In practice, the initial investigation of crimes is conducted by the police, who are subject to the direction of procurators fiscal. If the police investigation discloses sufficient evidence, the matter is reported for the consideration of the Procurator Fiscal.

Justice

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many cases brought before the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission in each of the last ten years have alleged Masonic involvement in miscarriages of justice.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission was established on 1 April 1999. The commission has received a total of 590 cases up to 31 January 2005. In two of these cases, both in 2003, issues relating to alleged Masonic involvement were raised.

Lord-Lieutenants

David Mundell (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it plays in appointments to the office of Lord-Lieutenant.

Cathy Jamieson: The Queen appoints Lord-Lieutenants in Scotland, as in England and Wales. When a Lord-Lieutenant retires, the Prime Minister consults the First Minister before giving advice to Her Majesty on the appointment of a replacement.

National Parks

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide additional support to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park to enhance enforcement activity on Loch Lomond before the introduction of byelaws governing access.

Lewis Macdonald: I have indicated to the Convener of the Park Authority that ministers will make additional funds available to the extent that there are additional and previously unforeseen enforcement costs falling on the authority which cannot be contained within the approved budget for 2005-06.

National Parks

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the likely timetable is for the consideration and implementation of byelaws for Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park covering activity on Loch Lomond.

Lewis Macdonald: The procedures for introducing byelaws (including statutory periods for different stages of the process) are set out in the National Parks (Scotland) Act 2000, and in Sections 202 to 204 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. The National Park Authority are proceeding with the current policy consultation for byelaws covering activity on Loch Lomond, with a view to presenting draft byelaws for my consideration in the course of this calendar year. The current expectation is that revised byelaws would be introduced early in 2006.

Nuclear Power

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received from British Energy or the Health and Safety Executive about the extent of cracks in graphite bricks at Torness and Hunterson B nuclear power stations and what the implications of such cracks might be for safety.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has received no information from British Energy or the Health and Safety Executive on this matter.

Nuclear Power

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has received from British Energy or the Health and Safety Executive about the impact of cracks in graphite bricks on the lifetime of Torness and Hunterson B nuclear power stations.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has received no information from British Energy or the Health and Safety Executive on this matter.

Police

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual cost to police forces was of policing events attended by members of the royal family in (a) 1999, (b) 2000, (c) 2001, (d) 2002, (e) 2003 and (f) 2004, broken down by police force.

Cathy Jamieson: It is not the policy of the Scottish Executive to comment on, or otherwise disclose details of, the cost of policing events attended by members of the royal family as to do so could compromise their security and play into the hands of those who might wish to intimidate them or cause them harm.

Police

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is in respect of disclosure of membership of the Masonic Order within the police force.

Cathy Jamieson: The qualifications for appointment to the police service are set out in the Police (Scotland) Regulations 2004. These do not include any provisions in relation to the disclosure of membership of the Masonic Order.

  Police officers in the Scottish Police Service are required at all times to abstain from any activity which is likely to interfere with the impartial discharge of their duties or which is likely to give rise to the impression amongst members of the public that it may so interfere. It is for Chief Constables to ensure adherence to this requirement.

Police

Rosie Kane (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research it has carried out into levels of membership of the Masonic Order within the police force.

Cathy Jamieson: None.

Police

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to review the use of ProLaser III speed guns.

Cathy Jamieson: ProLaser III is a Home Office type-approved device and one of a number of such devices that can be used by police forces in the United Kingdom. Type-approval and any review would be a matter for the Home Office.

Prison Service

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed by the Scottish Prison Service, broken down by (a) gender, (b) ethnic origin, (c) disability and (d) grade.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  As at 24 February 2005, the information is as follows:

  

Gender Breakdown


Female Employees
909


Male Employees
3,349


Total
4,258



  

Ethnicity Breakdown


Asian and White
1


Black African
4


Chinese
2


Indian
3


No Record
28


Other
1


Pakistani
3


White
4,216


Total
4,258



  

Disability Breakdown


Disabled
103


Disabled not Registered
25


No Record
394


Not Disabled
3,736


Total
4,258



  

Grade Breakdown


A
34


B
213


C
1,249


D
1,941


E
482


F
218


G
74


H
30


I
12


Senior Civil Service 
5


Total
4,258

Renewable Energy

Shiona Baird (North East Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that the full potential of biomass as a source of electricity, heat and fuel is maximised.

Mr Jim Wallace: We asked our Forum for Renewable Energy Development in Scotland (FREDS) to advise on the actions that needed to be taken to develop the biomass energy sector with particular reference to wood fuel. A sub-group considered this and FREDS published a report on 31 January. It is available via our website at www.scotland.gov.uk .

  The report suggests actions that could benefit both the power and heat sectors. I will respond to those that are addressed to the Executive as soon as possible and FREDS will monitor the response by others charged with taking action. The FREDS sub-group will reconvene after the UK Government’s review of the heat sector has been completed and will advise on any further action that might be taken specifically in Scotland in relation to the use of biomass for heat.

Schools

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many partnerships between local businesses and schools have been set up in each year since 2002-03, giving also the average per school cluster.

Mr Jim Wallace: Partnerships between schools and businesses - in both the public and private sectors - come in a variety of forms; what is important is that both parties are clear on what they can bring to the relationship, and that they remain committed to it.

  Through Determined to Succeed, we are helping local authorities and their schools to continue to increase the number of school/business partnerships against the background of our target of 2,000 partnerships by 2006. We shall report next year on our success in meeting that target.

Scottish Executive Staff

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many policy analysts it employs.

Mr Tom McCabe: At 1 February 2005, within Scottish Executive core departments, there were 292 (282.4 full-time equivalent) permanent administrative staff at the C1 (Branch Head) grade. The term "policy analyst" is a descriptive which has been used for posts at this level although the actual quantity of analytical work will vary from post to post depending on other responsibilities.

Scottish Executive Staff

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff have been seconded from it to other organisations since May 2004 and to which organisations these staff have been seconded.

Mr Tom McCabe: Since May 2004, 58 staff have been seconded from the Scottish Executive to a variety of organisations in the public, voluntary and academic sectors. These include 13 people to Europe and overseas; 14 to other government departments; 16 to other public bodies; four to local authorities; 10 to voluntary organisations, and 1 person to an academic institution. The following table details the organisations to which those staff have been seconded.

  

Europe and Overseas
Total
Other Govt. Dept
Total


Bi-Lateral Exchange (France) 
1
Cabinet Office 
1


Bi-Lateral Exchange (Denmark)
1
Crown Office 
1


British Embassy, Washington 
1
DTI 
1


Ecole Nationale d’Administration
1
DfES 
1


European Commission 
3
DfID 
1


European Parliament 
1
FCO UKREP 
1


Stagiaire 
5
Food Standards Agency 
1


Total
13
HM Treasury 
4


Home Office 
1


No.10 Downing Street 
1


Scottish Prison Service 
1


Total
14



  

Other Public Body 
Total
Local Authority
Total


Rural Payments Agency 
1
Aberdeen City Council 
1


Scottish Civic Forum 
3
Fife Council 
2


Scottish Council Foundation 
1
Moray Council 
1


Solway Heritage 
1
 
 


Water Industry Commissioner 
1
 
 


Social Investment Scotland 
2
 
 


Scottish Enterprise
2
 
 


Scottish Business in the Community 
1
 
 


Scottish Council for Development and Industry 
1
 
 


NHS 
1
 
 


Equal Opportunities Commission 
1
 
 


Learning and Teaching Scotland 
1
 
 


Total
16
Total
4



  

Voluntary Organisations 
Total
Academic
Total


Advocacy Safeguards Agency 
1
Edinburgh University 
1


Barnados 
1
 
 


PSYBT 
1
 
 


Columba 1400 
1
 
 


The Princes Trust 
2
 
 


Jubilee Scotland 
1
 
 


MACS 
1
 
 


NIDOS 
1
 
 


Girl Guide Scotland 
1
 
 


Totals
10
Total
1

Scottish Water

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how stakeholders will be consulted on Scottish Water’s essential objective, announced on 9 February 2005, to tackle constraints on new developments from 2006 to 2014 by allowing the building of 120,000 new homes and over 4,000 hectares of land to be commercially developed.

Lewis Macdonald: A wide range of stakeholders were consulted last year during the consultation exercises on Investing in and Paying for Water Services. Key stakeholders including Homes for Scotland, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations and Communities Scotland participated throughout the Quality and Standards 3 process which culminated in my announcement to Parliament on 9 February.

  This dialogue will continue with major stakeholders during the next investment programme. I have already indicated that Scottish Water should engage proactively in the planning process with local authorities, and the Executive will in future be assisting in that process.

Scottish Water

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will be announced which areas will benefit from Scottish Water’s essential objective to tackle constraints on new developments from 2006 to 2014 by allowing the building of 120,000 new homes and over 4,000 hectares of land to be commercially developed.

Lewis Macdonald: Scottish Water and its environmental and economic regulators will be dealing with an eight year programme of investment with a substantive review before the mid-point to take account of the next strategic review of charges for the period 2010-14.

  Additionally, and as I indicated in Parliament on 9 February, there may also be a requirement to revise some of the strategic development estimates during that period if for example the population of Scotland or its economy grows faster than anticipated. We also await the views of the Water Industry Commissioner on his current strategic review of charges, which will be received at the end of June 2005.

  As I have already indicated, Scottish Water will work with local authorities in drawing up plans.

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which Social Inclusion Partnerships’ arts projects are supported under the Scottish Art Council’s social inclusion scheme, broken down by local authority area.

Patricia Ferguson: A breakdown of SIP arts projects across local authority areas supported by the Scottish Arts Council’s Arts and Social Inclusion Scheme is listed below.

  Scottish Arts Council Social Inclusion Scheme Grants

  

Project
Award


Alloa South And East SIP
45,283


Ballochgoy Social Inclusion Partnership - Step-Up Project
22,750


Blantyre and North Hamilton Social Inclusion Partnership
88,574


Clackmannanshire Strategic Alliance SIP
10,000


Glasgow Alliance - Big Step Care Leavers
64,617


Glasgow Alliance - East End Social Inclusion Partnership
3,300


Glasgow Alliance - Greater Easterhouse
150,000


Glasgow Alliance - Greater Govan SIP
70,000


Glasgow Alliance - Greater Pollock SIP
55,000


Glasgow Alliance - North Glasgow SIP
76,650


Gorbals Arts Strategy Group
55,189


Great Northern SIP (GNP)
20,000


Highlands and Islands Social Inclusion Partnership
39,340


Levern Valley Partnership
9,394


Paisley Partnership Regeneration Company
91,319


Penilee Social Inclusion Partnership (Glasgow)
13,400


Scottish Borders Social Inclusion Partnership
15,300


South Edinburgh Partnership
21,010


Tranent Social Inclusion Partnership
104,343


West Dunbartonshire Partnership
110,000


West Lothian Social Inclusion Partnership
15,955


Total
1,081,424

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have taken part in Social Inclusion Partnerships’ arts projects in each of the last three years.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive’s cultural agency, the Scottish Arts Council, does not hold data of this description. The answer to S2W-14304 answered 1 March 2005, refers to the number of Social Inclusion Partnership arts projects which participated in the Scottish Arts Council’s Social Inclusion scheme. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Social Inclusion Partnerships

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to extend Social Inclusion Partnerships’ arts projects in each of the next three years and, if so, which organisations have applied for this support.

Patricia Ferguson: The Scottish Arts Council’s Arts and Social Inclusion Scheme ended in 2003. The council’s new Local Authority Partnership Fund will target areas of disadvantage with new artists-in-residence projects. Decisions on which areas will benefit from the new scheme are still under consideration.

Sport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds are available to develop grassroots rugby.

Patricia Ferguson: In the current financial year to 31 March 2005, Scottish Rugby will receive £450,000 in development grant aid to support the development of grass roots rugby. In addition to this, grass roots rugby will also benefit from the significant investment in Active Schools and may also benefit from funding available through the various programmes operated by  sportscotland.

Sport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funds have been made available for the provision of new rugby facilities in each year since 1999.

Patricia Ferguson: Funding to support the development of rugby facilities is available from  sportscotland principally through lottery programmes. These programmes are application based. To date, there has been no funding made available specifically for rugby facilities.

  However, through the Executive’s National and Regional Sports Facilities Strategy, funding of £8 million in total has been made available to support the development of two municipal stadia, one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh, which will benefit rugby.

  It is also expected that rugby will benefit from the facility developments associated with other elements of the Facilities Strategy, the significant investment made through the New Opportunities for PE and Sport (NOPES) programme as well as the funding available through sportscotland’s Building for Sport programme.

Sport

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to promote greater participation in team sports.

Patricia Ferguson: The Executive recognises the many benefits that participation in team sports can bring to individuals and communities alike. However, not everyone is attracted to team sports and it is important that opportunities are also made available for those wishing to participate as individuals. Funding for sport is largely determined by the ability of each sport to contribute to the targets set out in Sport 21, the national strategy for sport in Scotland.

Sport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-7396 by Mr Frank McAveety on 4 May 2004, what further funds have been provided for the development of grassroots rugby, detailing the source of the funds.

Patricia Ferguson: In addition to the funds identified previously, Scottish rugby has benefited from additional funding of £450,000 in development grant aid, £6,239 from Awards for All supporting seven projects and a lottery award of £105,000 to the sport’s governing body for coach support, player improvement and athlete support.

Sport

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scottish people won world and international medals in each of the last three years, which medals were won and for what disciplines.

Patricia Ferguson: The table sets out the number of Scottish people who have won medals at senior level in the Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games and in World and European competitions in each of the last three years. Given that some Scots will have won medals in more than one of these years, the total for the three years is not the sum of the three.

  

Sport
(2002)
Number of Scottish Medallists
Total Medals Won
Gold
Silver
Bronze


Aquatics
3
7
1
4
2


Athletics
3
4
 
1
3


Badminton
12
12
 
 
12


Bowls
9
9
9
 
 


Boxing
3
3
1
 
2


Curling
15
15
10
 
5


Cycling
4
7
3
 
4


Disabled Athletics
1
1
 
1
 


Disabled Curling
5
5
 
 
5


Gymnastics
2
2
1
 
1


Judo
11
14
1
6
7


Shooting
4
4
 
3
1


Snooker
1
1
 
1
 


Squash
4
4
 
4
 


Tug of War
8
8
 
8
 


Weightlifting
1
1
 
 
1


Total for 2002
86
97
26
28
43



  

Sport
(2003)
Number of Scottish Medallists
Total Medals Won
Gold
Silver
Bronze


Aquatics
3
5
2
3
 


Archery
1
1
 
 
1


Athletics
5
7
5
1
1


Bowls
1
1
 
1
 


Boxing
2
2
2
 
 


Canoeing
1
1
 
1
 


Curling
9
9
5
4
 


Cycling
3
4
2
 
2


Disabled Athletics
3
5
4
1
 


Football
5
5
 
5
 


Golf
6
6
6
 
 


Orienteering
1
2
1
 
1


Rowing
1
1
1
 
 


Snowsport
3
6
1
1
4


Triathlon
2
2
1
1
 


Water Skiing
1
1
 
 
1


Total for 2003
47
58
30
18
10



  

Sport
(2004)
Number of Scottish Medallists
Total Medals Won
Gold
Silver
Bronze


Athletics
1
1
 
 
1


Bowls
10
11
6
4
1


Boxing
4
5
5
 
 


Canoeing
2
5
 
3
2


Cycling
3
10
7
 
3


Disabled Aquatics
7
19
6
11
2


Disabled Athletics
1
1
 
 
1


Disabled Bowling
5
8
2
3
3


Disabled Curling
5
5
5
 
 


Disabled Cycling
1
2
1
1
 


Disabled Shooting
1
1
1
 
 


Golf
7
10
6
2
2


Judo
1
2
 
1
1


Lacrosse
39
39
 
16
23


Rowing
1
4
1
2
1


Sailing
1
1
1
 
 


Snooker
1
1
 
1
 


Snowsport
4
4
2
1
1


Squash
1
2
1
1
 


Triathlon
1
1
 
1
 


Tug of War
24
24
16
8
 


Total for 2004
120
156
60
55
41

Student Finance

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many court actions were raised against graduates to recover student loans sold to banks in (a) 1997-98 and (b) 1998-99, expressed also as a percentage of the number of loans sold.

Mr Jim Wallace: There were two sales of student loan debt to the private sector: the first in 1998 and the second in 1999.

  The following table shows the number of court actions raised against account holders UK wide to recover student loans sold to each debt owner. No breakdown of figures for Scotland is available.

  Not all account holders will necessarily be graduates.

  

Debt Owner
Court Actions Raised Against Account Holders
Approx no. of Loans Sold to Debt Owner
Percentage of Court Actions Raised to The Number of Loans Sold


1
9,942
500,000
2.0%


2
1,147
500,000
0.2%



  Source: Student Loans Company.

Student Loans

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the costs to it were of monies loaned by the Student Loans Company Ltd in each year since student loans were introduced.

Mr Jim Wallace: Student loans were introduced in 1990-91 and are treated as outwith Total Managed Expenditure, which means that the cash costs are met from the Treasury. These loans were accounted for on a cash accounting basis until 2000-01, and therefore there were no loan costs (apart from SLC administration costs – see below) to the Scottish Executive or its predecessor, The Scottish Office.

  The change in accounting treatment from Cash Accounting to Resource Accounting as described in the answer to S2W-14052, answered on 25 February 2005, introduced a cost for all student loan advances.

  Resource accounts giving the cost of student loans for students domiciled in Scotland are available from 1999-2000, and these can be found on the Scottish Executive website at: www.scotland.gov.uk/publications.

  The cost to the Scottish Executive of the Student Loans Company since 1999-2000 is as follows:-

  

Year
*£ Million


1999-2000
4.515


2000-01
2.873


2001-02
4.192


2002-03
5.202


2003-04
3.662



  The Scottish contribution to the administration of the Student Loan Company before 1999-2000 was as follows:

  

Year
£ Million*


1990-91
0.680 (estimated)


1991-92
1.365


1992-93
1.428


1993-94
1.791


1994-95
2.108


1995-96
2.488


1996-97
2.344


1997-98
2.761


1998-99
2.763



  Note: *the administration costs also include development costs of the Student Loan System.

Taxation

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has in respect of the total amount raised in Scotland through pay-as-you-earn in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive does not hold this information. Pay-as-you-earn is a matter for Inland Revenue.

Teachers

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many teachers have either received training in Enterprise in Education or received business placements in each year since 2002-03.

Mr Jim Wallace: Since 2002-03, over 11,000 teachers have participated in training delivered under the Schools Enterprise Programme or via our Excellence in Education through Business Links initiative. Under Determined to Succeed (DtS), we are continuing to develop our learning and development strategy: over 90 Head Teachers have completed leadership training at Columba 1400, and we are drawing up plans to make similar learning available to enterprise coordinators at local authority level. Meanwhile, each of our 32 local authorities have agreed DtS delivery plans that make clear how they plan to provide CPD opportunities in enterprise to their teaching staff.